


i have moved into the shadows

by orphan_account



Category: Damages
Genre: Awesome Ladies Ficathon, Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-02
Updated: 2010-07-02
Packaged: 2017-10-10 08:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/97884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account





	i have moved into the shadows

Grief discomfits others. 

Ellen Parsons is aware of this foible of human nature; she is a lawyer and so often she meets people who have had seen their lives torn apart. 

And yet, the precise nature of irreversible loss eludes her until the exact moment when she opts to finally pull away from David's coffin, hands balled up in the fabric of her white coat. The stark finality of that chapter (and that future) closing feels like a direct punch to one of the bruises that still line her body. 

Initially, Ellen carries this feeling with her like some tacky neon sign. Everyone speaks carefully (from kindness or shrewd calculation, depending on the person), stands back a few inches, and always watches her out of the corner of their eye when they think she is unaware. 

They want her to feel better, because they care for her or because she reminds them of the potential mortality of their loved ones. Stories like hers just don't _happen_. Future lawyers and doctors should marry peacefully. They shouldn't get murdered in their own apartments. 

The additional weight of these expectations requires acting, of sorts. She presents a vengeful face to the FBI, and a "suffering but gradually recovering," face to everyone else. In actuality, she fears that the entirety of who she once was has been rewritten, and the new Ellen Parsons has yet to emerge. 

Patty may be the only one to suspect Ellen, but that alone cannot save her.


End file.
